A series of new economic figures this morning cast fresh gloom on the health of the U.S. economy.

The economy grew much less than expected in the second quarter, new Labor Department estimates show. Second quarter GDP was revised lower to 1.3% from an earlier 1.7%. (Economists believed that GDP would be revised lower to 1.6%.) Declining consumer spending and business investment combined to weigh mightily on economic activity.

More troubling still is what this suggests about the third quarter. Little has surfaced to point to a pick-up, meaning that it's unlikely the economy will grow much more than before. In short, today's data sends "a notable red flag for U.S. growth," says Action Economics' Michael Englund.

U.S. economic growth turned even more anemic after the first quarter, when GDP grew by 2%. Manufacturing, a key driver of the economy earlier in the recession, has cooled, the result of an uncertain U.S. political outlook and slowed global demand.

Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of mining and construction equipment, earlier this week said next year would likely be little better than 2012 and slashed profit forecasts for 2015. Another U.S. manufacturer, Cummins, lowered its sales outlook in July. "The global economy has slowed," CEO Tom Linebarger said.

What's more, durable goods orders, a measure of factory activity, plunged last month in the largest drop in more than three years, data released by the Commerce Department this morning shows. Orders fell 13.9%. The last time that factories slowed this much: January 2009, when the economy was in the depths of the recession.

This data point also stymied economists, who predicted that orders would fall only 5%.

Boeing's troubles neatly underscore the current situation. Boeing, the largest U.S. aircraft maker, received only a single order in August, down from 260 a month earlier. "The latest durable goods report was bloodied by aircraft orders. Putting aircraft aside, though, we see a clear downward trend continuing in business capital demand," says IHS economist Jim Dorsey. "Businesses have become more pessimistic as we approach the fiscal cliff with no resolution in sight. But even if we avoid it, there is still China and Europe weighing on our export markets."

Further signs of a global slowdown have come from comments made by transportation companies. Norfolk Southern last week said coal shipments would hurt its earnings in the third quarter. Earlier, FedEx also warned that its profits would be less than expected. The nature of the shipping business—thousands of miles of connections across continents—allow these corporate giants to assess the health of the world's economy.